Selective adsorption of alkenes using supported metal compounds

ABSTRACT

The invention provides novel adsorbents for use in the separation of unsaturated hydrocarbons from a mixture of gases containing such hydrocarbons. The preferred adsorbents comprise metal compounds supported on high surface area carriers. The adsorbents of the invention are usable in pressure swing adsorption or temperature swing adsorption processes.

STATEMENT OF GOVERNMENT SUPPORT

This invention was made with government support provided by the NationalScience Foundation under the terms of Contract No. CTS-9520328. Thegovernment has certain rights in the invention.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a process and new sorbents forselective adsorption and recovery of alkenes from gaseous mixturescontaining the alkenes.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Several methods are known for the separation of selected organics fromgaseous mixtures. These include, for example, cryogenic distillation,liquid adsorption, membrane separation and pressure swing adsorption inwhich adsorption occurs at a higher pressure than the pressure at whichthe adsorbent is regenerated. In an analogous method, temperature swingadsorption is used in which adsorption occurs at a lower temperaturethan the temperature at which the adsorbent is regenerated. In theseadsorption techniques, after adsorption occurs, release of the adsorbedmaterial is achieved by either decreasing the pressure or raising thetemperature. Of these methods, cryogenic distillation and liquidadsorption represent commonly known methods for separating selectedorganics from gaseous mixtures. Cryogenic distillation has been used forover sixty years for separation. However, it is very energy intensiveand difficult to accomplish because of relatively close volatilitieswhen alkene\alkane (olefin\paraffin) separation is required. Forexample, ethane\ethylene separation is carried out at about −25° C. and320 psig (2.603 MPa) in a column containing over 100 trays, andpropane\propylene separation is performed by an equally energy-intensivedistillation at about −30° C. and 30 psig (0.308 MPa). It is evidentthat high capital costs and high operational costs are incurred in anycryogenic distillation approach. Early attempts were made to use liquidsolutions for separation by means of metallic ions dispersed insolution. Such methods are very difficult to conduct and not easilyadaptable to commercial use.

More recently, molecular sieve zeolites have been investigated toselectively adsorb carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons from gaseousmixtures. However, these zeolites have shown only moderate capacity forrecovery of the targeted compound to be adsorbed. An example isadsorption on cuprous ion exchanged y-type zeolites (U.S. Pat. Nos.4,717,398 and 5,365,011). Presently, many of the available adsorbentsknown for other uses, such as carbon monoxide removal, do not haveselectivities for olefins as demonstrated by the aforesaid '398 and'011. Therefore, what is needed are new adsorbents (sorbents) effectivefor olefin/paraffin separation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention provides new adsorbents for use in separating selectedgaseous hydrocarbons from a mixture comprising the hydrocarbons. Theinvention provides new methods for accomplishing such separation usingthe novel adsorbents. The new adsorbents are very effective forselective adsorption of alkenes such as ethylene, propylene, andmixtures of these from a gaseous mixture which comprises the alkene. Inone embodiment, the invention provides an adsorbent for preferentialadsorption which comprises a metal compound supported on a carrier. Themetal compound is characterized by the ability to releasibly retain thealkene whereby the alkene is preferentially adsorbed from the mixture.This produces a non-adsorbed component and an alkene-rich adsorbedcomponent. Next, by changing at least one of pressure and temperature,the alkene-rich component is thereby released from the adsorbent.

The adsorbent preferably comprises a metal compound selected from asilver compound, a copper compound and mixtures thereof. The preferredcarrier comprises a plurality of pores having a pore size greater thanthe molecular diameter of the alkene. The compound of silver or copperis characterized by formation of π-complexation bonds between the silveror copper and the alkene for accomplishing the retention of the alkeneby the adsorbent. When pressure and/or temperature is changed, thesilver or copper compound releases the alkene-rich component from theadsorbent.

The metal compound is preferably a salt selected from acetate, benzoate,bromate, chlorate, perchlorate, chlorite, citrate, nitrate, nitrite,sulfate and halide (F, Cl, Br, I) and mixtures of these. The preferredsilver salt is silver nitrate. Other salts of silver are as per thegroup defined above where the preferred halide is fluoride. Anotherpreferred adsorbent is salt of copper selected from the group consistingof bromide, fluoride, iodide and sulfates, supported on a carrier.

The carrier is a high surface area support selected from refractoryinorganic oxide, molecular sieve, activated carbon, pillared clay, andmixtures of these. The carriers are preferably characterized by a BETsurface area greater than about 50 square meters per gram and up toabout 2,000 square meters per gram and comprise a plurality of poreshaving a pore size greater than about 3 angstroms and up to about 10microns. Preferably, the adsorbent comprises finely divided particles ofsilica with silver nitrate dispersed on and supported on the particles.

Preferential adsorption is achieved at a pressure greater than thedesorption (release) pressure. Preferential adsorption pressure may beas high as about 35 atmospheres or more; and the desorption pressure maybe as low as sub-atmospheric, significant vacuum, 0.01 atmosphere orless. The pressure of preferential adsorption is in a range of about 1to about 35 atmospheres; desirably about 1 to 10 atmospheres; and mostdesirably about 1 to about 2 atmospheres. The pressure of release is ina range of about 0.01 atmospheres to about 5 atmospheres; and

desirably in a range of about 0.1 atmospheres to about 0.5 atmospheres.

The temperature of preferential adsorption is conveniently selected tobe in a range of about 0° C. to about 50° C.; and desirably in a rangeof about 25° C. to about 50° C. The temperature of release is selectedto be in a range of about 70° C. to about 200° C.; and desirably 100° C.to about 120° C.

There are several methods for accomplishing dispersion of the metalcompound onto a carrier or support.

These methods include thermal monolayer dispersion, impregnation byincipient wetness technique, and spray application. In a preferredembodiment, the adsorbent of the invention is prepared by dispersing themetal compound onto the carrier under conditions that do not decomposeor oxidize the compound. It is preferred that the dispersion permits thechemical compound to retain its character. The impregnation by incipientwetness technique accomplishes these objectives. This technique avoidsdecomposition of the metal compound which is more likely to occur bythermal dispersion heating method. Further, incipient wetness techniquepermits the effective dispersion of a monomolecular layer of metalcompound on the carrier.

The invention provides substantial advantages over conventional methodsfor separating components of a gaseous mixture due to the effective andeconomical process and adsorbents provided by the invention.

Objects, features, and advantages of the invention include an improvedmethod for separating olefins from paraffins. Another object is toprovide new adsorbents for use in such separation.

These and other objects, features, and advantages will become apparentfrom the following description of the preferred embodiment, claims, andaccompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows equilibrium isotherms of C₂H₄ and C₂H₆ at 70° C. on SiO₂and AgNO₃/SiO₂ prepared via thermal monolayer (monomolecular layer)dispersion method at 70° C. Lines are fittings with eqs. (A) and (B).

FIG. 2 shows equilibrium isotherms of C₂H₄ and C₂H₆ at 70° C. onAgNO₃/SiO₂ prepared via incipient wetness impregnation method. Lines arefittings with eqs. (A) and (B).

FIG. 2A shows equilibrium isotherms of C₂H₄ and C₂H₆ at 25° C. onAgNO₃/SiO₂ sorbent. This sorbent was prepared by impregnating SiO₂ withthe AgNO₃, using incipient wetness technique to achieve a monomolecularlayer of the Ag salt on the SiO₂ carrier.

FIG. 3 shows equilibrium isotherms of C₃H₆ at 25° C. on AgX/SiO₂ viathermal monolayer dispersion method.

FIG. 4 shows normalized C₃H₆ equilibrium data at 25° C. on AgX/SiO₂ viathermal monolayer dispersion method.

FIG. 5 shows equilibrium isotherms of C₃H₆ at 70° C. on incipientwetness impregnated AgNO₃/γ-Al₂O₃, AgNO₃/SiO₂ and AgNO₃/MCM-41. Linesare fitting with eq. (B).

FIG. 6 shows selective adsorption of C₃H₆ over C₃H₈ at 70° C. onincipient wetness impregnated AgNO₃/SiO₂. Lines are fittings with eqs.(A) and (B).

FIG. 7 shows normalized C₃H₆ equilibrium data at 70° C. on incipientwetness impregnated AgNO₃/γ-Al₂O₃, AgNO₃/SiO₂ and AgNO₃/MCM-41.

FIG. 8 shows sequence and basic steps in the four-step PSA cycle.

FIG. 9 shows equilibrium C₂H₄ and C₂H₆ isotherms on zeolite 4A at 25°and 70° C. For all isotherm figures, symbols are experimental data andlines are fitted isotherms.

FIG. 10 shows uptake curves of C₂H₄ and C₂H₆ on zeolite 4A at 25° and70° C. at P=0-0.1 atm.

FIG. 11 shows equilibrium isotherms of C₃H₆ and C₃H₈. on zeolite 4A at25° and 120C.

FIG. 12 shows uptake rates of C₃H₆ on zeolite 4A at 25° and 120° C.

FIG. 13 shows equilibrium isotherms of C₂H₄ and C₂H₆ on molecular-sievecarbon at 25° and 100° C.

FIG. 14 shows equilibrium isotherms of C₃H₆ and C₃H₈, on monolayerAgNO₃/SiO₂ at 25° and 70° C.

FIG. 15 shows C₂H₄ product purity (%) vs. C₂H₄ product recovery (%) forPSA using zeolite 4A and Ag⁺-exchanged Amberlyst-35 resin at averageC₂H₄ product throughput=1.1×10⁻⁴ kg of product/h/kg of adsorbent. Feedtemperature=25° C. Inset figures refer to the number of thecorresponding run shown in Table 4.

FIG. 16 shows C₃H₆ product throughput vs. C₃H₆ product recovery in thiscase of zeolite 4A and monolayer AgNO₃/SiO₂ at 99.1% C₃H₆ productpurity. Feed temperature for zeolite 4A and AgNO₃/SiO₂ sorbents is 100°C. and 70° C., respectively. Inset figures refer to the number of thecorresponding run shown in Table 5.

FIG. 17 shows transient behavior of C₃H₆ concentration in the desorptionproduct from step 4 as system approaches cyclic steady state atdifferent feed velocities starting from a bed saturated with 5% C₃H₆ and95% C₃H₈ at 0.1 atm in the case of AgNO₃/SiO₂ sorbent. P_(H)=1.0 atm;P_(L)=0.1 atm; step time=210 s; purge velocity=0.186 cm/s; feedtemperature=initial temperature=70° C.

FIG. 18 shows multiplicity in PSA cyclic steady states with AgNO₃/SiO₂.Effect of interstitial feed velocity U_(H), on the C₃H₆ concentration inthe desorption (step 4) product. The lower branch started with initialtemperature of 70° C., while the upper branch started with that of 120°C., P_(H)=1.0 atm; P_(L)=0.1 atm; step time 210 s; purge velocity=0.186cm/s; feed temperature=70° C.

FIG. 19 shows transient behavior of C₃H₆ concentration in the desorptionproduct from step 4 as system approaches cyclic steady state atdifferent purge velocities starting from a bed saturated with 5% C₃H₆and 95% C₃H₆ at 0.1 atm in the case of AgNO₃/SiO₂ sorbent. Feedtemperature=initial temperature=70° C. P_(H)=1.0 atm; P_(L)=0.1 atm;step time 210 s; feed velocity=0.80 cm/s.

FIG. 20 shows multiplicity in PSA cyclic steady states with AgNO₃/SiO₂.Effect of interstitial purge velocity, Up, on the C3H6 concentration inthe desorption (step 4) product. The lower branch started with initialtemperature of 70° C. while the upper branch started with that of 120°C., P_(H)=atm; P_(L)=0.1 atm; step time 210 s; feed velocity=0.80 cm/s;feed temperature=70° C.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The invention provides novel adsorbents for use in a method ofseparating selected gaseous hydrocarbons from a gaseous mixturecomprising such hydrocarbons. The adsorbents are particularly suited forselective adsorption of alkenes such as ethylene, propylene, andmixtures of these from a gaseous mixture comprising alkenes. In oneembodiment, the method comprises first contacting the gaseous mixturewith an adsorbent comprising a metal compound which preferentiallyadsorbs the alkene, at a selected temperature and pressure, therebyproducing a non-adsorbed component and an alkene-rich adsorbedcomponent. The adsorbent comprises a metal compound, preferably a silveror copper compound supported on a carrier. The preferred carriercomprises a plurality of pores having a pore size greater than theeffective molecular diameter of the alkene. The compound of silver orcopper is characterized by formation of π-complexation bonds between thesilver or copper and the alkene for releasably retaining the alkene.Then the pressure and/or temperature are changed to thereby release thealkene-rich component from the adsorbent.

The metal compound is preferably a salt selected from acetate, benzoate,bromate, chlorate, perchlorate, chlorite, citrate, nitrate, nitrite,sulfate, halide (F, Cl, Br, I), and mixtures of these. The carrier is ahigh surface area support selected from refractory inorganic oxide,molecular sieve, and activated carbon, and mixtures of these. Somepreferred refractory inorganic oxides are selected from the groupconsisting of pillared clay, alumina and silica. The preferred metal isselected from silver and copper, and mixtures thereof.

In one embodiment, the adsorbent is characterized by preferentialadsorption of gaseous alkene from a gaseous mixture comprising thealkene, and the adsorbent comprises: a salt of silver supported on acarrier. The preferred salt is silver nitrate. Other salts of silver areas per the group defined above, where the preferred halide is fluoride.

Preferably, the adsorbent comprises finely divided particles of silica(SiO₂) with silver nitrate dispersed on and supported on the particles.

Another preferred adsorbent is a salt of copper selected from the groupconsisting of bromide, fluoride, iodide and sulfate, supported on acarrier.

The carriers, refractory inorganic oxide, molecular sieve, and activatedcarbon, are preferably characterized by a BET surface area greater thanabout 50 square meters per gram and up to about 2,000 square meters pergram and comprise a plurality of pores having a pore size greater thanabout 3 angstroms and up to about 10 microns.

In a preferred embodiment, the metal compound retains its chemicalcharacteristic. Therefore, dispersion onto a carrier is preferablyconducted under conditions that do not decompose or oxidize the metalcompound. In addition, the preferred metal compound is one that providesthe metal in a +1 oxidation state. The preferred dispersion method leadsto such preferred +1 valance state. Preferably, the metal compound iswater soluble to facilitate dispersion, particularly by incipientwetness technique. Therefore, the preferred compound contains Ag(I) orCu(I) cationic species with associated anionic species, as per thecompound and salts listed above. As a result, these π-complexationadsorbents of the invention provide attractive and improved resultscompared to conventional adsorbents.

Separation by π-complexation is a subgroup of chemical complexationwhere the mixture is contacted with a second phase, which contains acomplexing agent. The advantage of chemical complexation is that thebonds formed are stronger than those by van der Waals forces alone, soit is possible to achieve high selectivity and high capacity for thecomponent to be bound. At the same time, the bonds are still weak enoughto be broken by using simple engineering operations such as raising thetemperature or decreasing the pressure.

The π-complexation generally pertains to the main group (or d-block)transition metals, that is, from Sc to Cu, Y to Ag, and La to Au in theperiodic table. These metals or their ions can form the normal σ bond tocarbon and, in addition, the unique characteristics of the d orbitals inthese metals or ions can form bonds with the unsaturated hydrocarbons(olefins) in a nonclassic manner. This type of bonding is broadlyreferred to as π-complexation, and has been considered for gaseoushydrocarbon separation and purification using cumbersome liquidsolutions.

The further description and examples below show that for C₃H₆/C₃H₈separation, conventional sorbents did not provide a large workingcapacity for C₃H₆ since the C₃H₆ isotherms do not exhibit a steepportion between adsorption and desorption pressures. The examples alsoshow that the sorbents of the invention have superior selectivity forC₃H₆ adsorption. The examples show use of the new adsorbents (sorbents)with a preferred PSA process for very effective gas separation.

The PSA process is effectively usable with the new sorbents of theinvention. Here, multiplicity of periodic steady states is an importantaspect of cyclic adsorption process. For pressure swing adsorption(PSA), multiple steady states exist for a fixed set of operatingconditions, over a particular range of one or more of these operatingvariables (i.e., bifurcation variables). The final stable state dependsonly on the initial condition (i.e., the perturbation variables). Suchan example of multiplicity in PSA has been presented for the system ofH₂S/CO₂/CH₄ on 5A zeolite. Efficient methods for direct determination ofperiodic steady states as well as mapping regions with differentbifurcation diagrams are applied to PSA. Here, there is used a region ofmultiplicity for C₃H₆/C₃H₈. separation by PSA coupled with the newsorbents.

EXAMPLE 1 AgNO₃ Supported on SiO₂ Prepared by Thermal MonolayerDispersion and Incipient Wetness Impregnation

The sorbents of the invention are metal compounds which contain metalcations dispersed over a high surface area substrate. The dispersion ofmetal compounds and their included cations was accomplished usingseveral methods. This was done to determine which technique was bettersuited for preparing π-complexation sorbents. One of the methods isknown as spontaneous thermal monolayer dispersion. The other techniqueutilized was incipient wetness impregnation. Here, these techniques wereapplied to synthesize sorbents capable of π-complexation with olefins.

Thermal monolayer dispersion involves mixing a metal compound,preferably a metal salt, with a substrate at a predetermined ratio. Thisratio is determined by the amount of salt that is required for monolayercoverage on the surface area of the substrate assuming two-dimensionalclose-packing. The BET surface area of the substrate was first measured.After the finely divided powders of the salt and substrate have beenthoroughly mixed, it was heated at a temperature between the Tammanntemperature and the melting point of the salt. If the temperature wastoo low, the dispersion would take an unacceptably long time. However, ahigh dispersion temperature could cause the metal salt to oxidize orreact with the substrate, both of which could deactivate the sorbent.The sorbent in the example was prepared by mixing 0.32 grams of AgNO₃.(Strem Chemicals) per gram of SiO₂ (Strem Chemicals). After thoroughmixing, the sample was heated in air at 200° C. for 89 hours to assurecomplete dispersion. This sorbent is referred to as monolayerAgNO₃/SiO₂. The BET surface area of this sample was measured at 384m²/g. The above ratio yielded the best results for this dispersiontechnique.

Another technique utilized was incipient wetness impregnation. Itinvolved preparing a solution of the salt to be dispersed. The solutionwas then mixed with the substrate where it was absorbed by the substratedue to incipient wetness. After the substrate had imbibed the solutioncontaining the salt into its pore structure, the sample was heated toremove the solvent. Care needs to be taken when selecting solvents foruse in this technique. Firstly, the salt needs to be soluble in thesolvent to a sufficient extent so as to allow enough salt to bedissolved in the volume of solution that is equal to the pore volume ofthe substrate. Secondly, the solvent selected needs to be able to wetthe surface of the substrate. As mentioned above, AgNO₃/SiO₂ at a ratioof 0.32 was the sorbent utilized. Since AgNO₃ is highly soluble inwater, water was chosen as the solvent. Also, since SiO₂ has a highaffinity for water, this also assures proper wetting of the substrate.The pore volume and surface area of the SiO₂ utilized were measured at0.46 cm³/g and 670 m²/g, respectively. A 1.2 M solution of AgNO₃ wasprepared. A volume of the solution equal to the total. pore volume ofSiO₂ sample was brought in contact with the substrate, so that aAgNO₃/SiO₂ ratio equal or close to 0.32 was achieved. The sample wasthen heated for 4 hours at 105° C. in air to remove the water. The ratioof the resulting sample was calculated at 0.27 and the sample was usedwithout further treatment. The BET surface area of this sorbent was 398m²/g. The sorbent prepared by incipient wetness impregnation is referredto as impregnated AgNO₃/SiO₂. The loadings of AgNO₃ on the samples wereoptimized by maximizing olefin adsorption while varying the saltcontent. Adsorbates

The hydrocarbons used as the adsorbates were ethane (CP grade, Mathesonminimum purity 99.0%), ethylene (CP grade, Matheson minimum purity99.5%), propane (CP grade, Matheson minimum purity 99.0%), propylene (CPgrade, Matheson minimum purity 99.0%), and helium (pre-purified grade,Metro Welding 99.995%) was used as the carrier gas and as theregeneration gas. The gases were used without further purification.

Measurements of Equilibrium Isotherms and Uptake Rates

Isotherms and uptake rates were measured utilizing both a ShimadzuTGA-50 microbalance and a Micromeritics ASAP 2010 system following theprocedures described in Ackley and Yang (1991). Equilibrium time forisotherm measurements was about 5 minutes per equilibration point.Surface area measurements were made using the Micromeritics ASAP 2010.Also, measurements were made at two temperatures (25° C., 70° C.) inorder to obtain isosteric heats of adsorption. The overall diffusiontime constants, D/R², were calculated from the uptake curves measuredfrom a stepped pressure increment from 0 to 0.1 atm by methods andassumptions described in detail in Yeh (1989).

Equilibrium Isotherm Model

Since the adsorption of paraffin molecules includes physical adsorptiononly, it can be modeled well by the Langmuir isotherm with twoparameters shown in equation A.

However, the adsorption of olefin molecules on AgNO₃/SiO₂ includes bothphysical adsorption and chemisorption (via π-complexation). Therefore, adifferent model is required to account for chemisorption. The isothermmodel developed by Yang and Kikkinides (1995) to account for bothinteractions is shown in equation B.

The first term accounts for physical adsorption, while the second termrepresents contributions by chemisorption. The second term also takesinto account the energetic heterogeneity of the surface ion sitesavailable for complexation. While equation B contains five parameters,only two of them are true fitting parameters (Yang and Kikkinides,1995). The other three parameters have certain constraints imposed onthem in order for them to have physical meaning. Empirical values for sare available from the literature (Valenzuela and Myers, 1989; Kapoorand Yang, 1990). For each adsorbent, the corresponding paraffin datawere used first to obtain the two parameters in the Langmuir isotherm.Therefore, equation B was used to fit the olefin adsorption data withimposed values or constraints on q_(mp), and b_(p), and s, leaving onlyq_(mc) and b_(c) as true fitting parameters.

Thermal Monolayer Dispersion vs. Incipient Wetness Impregnation forPreparing AgNO₃ Supported on SiO₂

As mentioned earlier, the thermal dispersion involves heating a mixtureof metal salt and substrate. This could lead to oxidation or partialoxidation of the metal salt, which would reduce the complexation witholefin molecules. It was determined that FeCl₂ could be easily oxidizedto FeCl₃ during the thermal monolayer dispersion process. As alsodescribed earlier, metal cations can be spread by incipient wetnessimpregnation. Sorbents prepared by these two techniques are compared inthis example. It should be noted that thermal monolayer dispersion (TMD)is also referred to as thermal dispersion. These terms are usedinterchangeably throughout this description. It should be noted that theincipient wetness impregnation method also results in the creation of amonomolecular layer or monolayer of the salt dispersed on the carrier orsupport. Therefore, as used herein, impregnation refers to the monolayerachieved by the more superior incipient wetness method and thermaldispersion generally refers to application of the salt onto an adsorbentby high temperature thermal processing.

AgNO₃/SiO₂ sorbent capable of π-complexation was prepared via thermalmonolayer dispersion. The procedure for the preparation of the sorbentwas described in the previous section, including that the process wascarried out at 200° C. for 89 hours in order to allow sufficient timefor the dispersion of the AgNO₃ salt. The resulting sorbent had a lightgray color which suggested that some of the AgNO₃ had been oxidizedduring the process. The BET surface area of the sorbent was measured at384 m²/g. The average pore diameter of the sorbent was calculated usingthe Horvath-Kawazoe method to be 8.4 Å.

Equilibrium isotherms of C₂H₄ and C₂H₄ on SiO₂ (substrate) and monolayerAgNO₃/SiO₂ (by thermal dispersion) at 70° C. are shown in FIG. 1. Theequilibrium data for C₂H₆ and C₂H₄ were fitted to equations A and B,respectively. Fitting parameters for these isotherms are shown in TableA. Although both gases adsorbed similar amounts on the SiO₂ surface, theadsorbed amount of C₂H₄ was slightly higher than that for C₂H₆. FromFIG. 1, it can be seen that the bare surface of SiO₂ showed nosubstantial selectivity. The selective adsorption ratio of C₂H₄ overC₂H₆ for SiO₂ was approximately 1.5. The preference toward C₂H₄ is dueto higher polarizability. This allows C₂H₄ to better interact with theelectric field on the surface of the SiO₂ substrate. Compared to SiO₂,monolayer AgNO₃/SiO₂ demonstrated a substantial increase in selectivityand capacity for olefin. The selective adsorption ratio of C₂H₄ overC₂H₆ was increased from 1.5 to 4. On monolayer AgNO₃/SiO₂ at 70° C. and1 atm, the amount adsorbed for C₂H₄ was 0.5 mmol/g. It appears that theincrease in C₂H₄ adsorption on monolayer AgNO₃/SiO₂ was not large whencompared to adsorption on bare SiO₂. However, it becomes moresignificant when one compares the amounts adsorbed per surface area. Theamount of C₂H₄ absorbed per surface area increased two fold onAgNO₃/SiO₂.

In order to compare thermal monolayer dispersion with incipient wetnessimpregnation, equilibrium isotherms for C₂H₄ and C₂H₆ at 70° C. on wetimpregnated AgNO₃/SiO₂ are shown in FIG. 2. The equilibrium data forC₂H₆ and C₂H₄ was fitted with equations A and B, respectively. Thefitting parameters are shown in Table A. When compared with the sorbentsynthesized by thermal monolayer dispersion, this sorbent showedsuperior capacity and a higher selectivity. At 1 atm and 70° C., onimpregnated AgNO₃/SiO₂, the amount adsorbed of C₂H₄ was 1.25 mmol/g. Thecapacity of this sample was 2.5 times greater than that on the samesorbent prepared by thermal monolayer dispersion. The selectiveadsorption ratio was 6.5. This was approximately a 60% increase overmonolayer AgNO₃/SiO₂. Both sorbents demonstrated completely reversibleadsorption behavior.

FIG. 2A shows equilibrium isotherms of C₂H₄ and C₂H₆ at 25° C. onAgNO₃/SiO₂ sorbent. This sorbent was prepared by impregnating SiO₂ withthe AgNO₃, using incipient wetness technique to achieve a monomolecularlayer of the Ag salt on the SiO₂ carrier. Comparing FIGS. 1 and 2A,there is shown significant improved performance of the impregnated(incipient wetness prepared) AgNO₃ on SiO₂ sorbent as compared to thethermally dispersed AgNO₃ on SiO₂. The impregnated sorbent (FIG. 2A) hasa shape of the isotherm that is higher above the knee. This isothermshape is desirable because it increases the working capacity of thesorbent. Comparing FIGS. 1 (thermally dispersed) and 2A (impregnated) itis clear that the impregnated sorbents are superior.

The enhanced performance of the impregnated sorbents (FIGS. 2 and 2A)over the thermally dispersed sorbents (FIG. 1) is clear. The amounts ofC₂H₄ adsorbed in FIGS. 2 and 2A are far greater at each partial pressurethan the amount adsorbed in FIG. 1 at the same respective partialpressure.

One possible explanation for the increased adsorption capacity of thesorbent prepared via wet impregnation was better salt dispersion andhence less pore blockage. However, when the surface areas were compared(380 vs. 389 m²/g), no significant differences were encountered. Also,the fact that diffusion in both samples was fast indicated no or minimalpore blockage. Complete diffusional uptake was achieved in less than 90seconds for both sorbents. Another possible explanation was the AgNO₃loading on the sample. Again when both loadings were compared (0.32 vs.0.27), no significant difference was encountered that accounts for thelarge difference on adsorption capacities. Lastly, the only plausibleexplanation for the discrepancies was the nature or oxidation states ofthe dispersed cations. As mentioned, thermal monolayer dispersion couldlead to partial oxidation of the salt. Since AgNO₃ was exposed to air at200° C. for 89 hours during thermal monolayer dispersion, it is possiblethat some of the salt was oxidized to some extent. A simple evidence forpartial oxidation and decomposition was the observation of the color ofthe resulting sample which had a light gray color with some blackparticles. This observation indicated that some of the AgNO₃ salt (whichis colorless) was decomposed and oxidized to Ag₂O and AgO (gray andblack, respectively). The decomposition/partial oxidation of some of theAgNO₃ would certainly decrease the complexation with olefin and hencethe adsorption capacity.

EXAMPLE 2 Anion Effects—Ag-Halide Compounds Supported on SiO2

In this example, the effect of various anions on olefin adsorption areshown. By understanding this effect, the adsorptive properties ofsorbents are maximized for olefin/paraffin separation. The sorbents wereprepared by dispersing silver halides on silica gel via thermalmonolayer dispersion. Incipient wetness impregnation was not used due tolack of good solvents. The halides used were AgF, AgCl, AgBr, AgI. Thesilver halide content of each sorbent was maintained at around 1.0mmol/g to facilitate comparison. The sorbents were prepared by mixingthe metal halide and the silica gel with thorough mixing. The resultingmixture was heated air at 350° C. for 4 days to assure proper spreading.The BET surface areas of the resulting sorbents are shown in Table B.

Equilibrium isotherms for C₃H₆ at 25° C. on the various AgX/SiO₂ (whereX=F, Cl, Br, or I) sorbents are shown in FIG. 3. The fitting parametersfor these isotherms are shown in Table C. The amounts of C₃H₆ adsorbedat 1 atm for AgF, AgCl, AgBr and AgI on SiO₂ were 1.44, 1.34, 1.51, and1.47 mmol/g, respectively. All isotherms were fully reversible.Initially, it would appear that anions have very slight effect. However,when the data are normalized to account for differences in surface area,a clear trend emerged. The normalized data are shown in FIG. 4. Theweakly chemisorbed C₃H₆ on the surface metal cations can be representedby the following formula: Ag⁺(C₃H₆)_(n). The values of n for AgF/SiO₂,AgCl/SiO₂, AgBr/SiO₂, AgI/SiO₂ at 1 atm and 25° C. were 0.10, 0.13, 0.16and 0.23 molecule C₃H₆ per Ag⁺. Therefore, once the data was normalized,the adsorption trend was observed as follows:

AgI>AgBr>AgCI>AgF

The above trend is also supported by isosteric heat of adsorption dataobtained from the temperature dependence of the equilibrium isotherms.Isosteric heat of adsorption (−ΔH) values for propylene on AgF/SiO₂,AgCl/SiO₂, AgBr/SiO₂ and AgI/SiO₂ were 7.6, 8.2, 9.0, and 9.9 kcal/mol,respectively.

The π-complexation bond involves σ-donation (i.e., overlap of the 2porbital of olefin with the 5s orbital of Ag⁺) and d−π* backdonation(i.e., electron donation from the 4d_(yz) orbital of Ag⁺to the 2p*orbital of olefin). For anions with higher electronegativities (e.g.,F⁻), the σ-donation is stronger. However, the d−πw* backdonationdominates the bonding in this case, and the backdonation follows theorder shown above.

EXAMPLE 3 Substrate Effects—AgNO₃ Supported on λAl₂O₃, SiO₂ and Zeolite

In order to gain a better understanding of the behavior ofπ-complexation sorbents, it is necessary to also understand the effectsof various substrates on olefin adsorption. This example shows theeffect that the chemical and structural properties of the substrate hadon adsorption behavior. To this end, several sorbents were prepared bydispersing AgNO₃ over three different high surface area substrates usingthe incipient wetness impregnation technique described previously. Thesubstrates used were γ-Al₂O₃, SiO₂ and MCM-41 mesoporous zeolite. TheMCM-41 utilized is one of a new family of mesoporous silicate molecularsieves with hexagonal arrangement of unidimensional channels withuniform sizes in the range of 20-100 Å (Kresge, et al., 1992; Beck etal., 1992). The MCM-41 utilized had a BET surface area of 1004 m²/g andan average pore size measured by the Horvath Kawazoe method to be 30 Å.The γ-Al₂O₃ utilized was obtained from Alcoa (PSD-350) and had a BETsurface area of 340 m²/g. The metal salt loading per surface area wasmaintained constant for each sorbent. The AgNO₃ loadings for γ-Al₂O₃,SiO₂, and MCM-41 were 0.16, 0.27 and 0.47 gram of salt per gram ofsubstrate, respectively.

Equilibrium isotherms for C₃H₆ on wet impregnated AgNO₃/γ-Al₂O₃,AgNO₃/SiO₂ and AgNO₃/MCM-41 at 70° C. are shown in FIG. 5. The fittingparameters for these isotherms are shown in Table D. Adsorptioncapacities at 1 atm and 70° C. for AgNO₃/γAl₂O₃, AgNO₃/SiO₂ andAgNO₃/MCM-41 were 0.48, 1.49, and 2.06 mmol/g, respectively. C₃H₆adsorption on these sorbents was completely reversible. As shown in FIG.5, all isotherms showed good working capacities which are crucial forpressure swing adsorption process (PSA). Uptake rates on all sorbentswere fast with completion within 300 seconds. The overall diffusion timeconstants (D/R²), surface areas and average pore diameters forAgNO₃/γ-Al₂O₃, AgNO₃/SiO₂ and AgNO₃/MCM-41 are shown in Table E.Selective olefin over paraffin adsorption is shown in FIG. 6 for C₃H₆and C₃H₈ at 25° C. on wet impregnated AgNO₃/SiO₂. The selectiveadsorption ratio of this sorbent at 1 atm was 6. The working capacity ofa sorbent is determined by the isotherm's steepness above the knee. Inorder to clearly show the effect of the chemical properties of thesorbent's surface rather than the physical properties (surface area,pore size), the data was normalized to prevent bias toward the sampleswith higher surface areas. The normalized equilibrium data for the C₃H₆adsorption at 70° C. on AgNO₃/γ-Al₂ ₃, AgNO₃/SiO₂ and AgNO₃/MCM-41 areshown in FIG. 7. Once the data had been normalized the following trendfor the substrates is observed:

SiO₂>MCM-41 >γ-Al₂O₃

The surfaces of SiO₂ and Al₂O₃ are both filled with oxygen atoms. PureSiO₂ surface has no acidity, whereas Al₂O₃ has acidity due to oxidevacancies. Consequently, there are more Ag⁺ions that are 4-coordinatedon the SiO₂ surface as compared to the Al₂O₃ surface, and there are more5- and 6-coordinated Ag⁺on the Al₂O₃ surface. It is more favorable forthe 4-coordinated Ag³⁰ ions to bond C₂H₄ molecules. The 5- and6-coordinated Ag³⁰ ions are unlikely to bond olefins due tostereochemical reasons. The experimental results indeed showed that SiO₂is significantly better as a substrate.

Examples 1 to 3 show new and more effective sorbents for ethane\ethyleneand propane\propylene separations were synthesized by dispersing AgNO₃salt over several substrates (γ-Al₂O₃, SiO₂ and MCM-41) using incipientwetness impregnation technique. The capacities and selectivities ofthese new sorbents are significantly better than any knownπ-complexation sorbents. Adsorption rates for these sorbents were fastwith 100% completion achieved within 300 seconds at 25° C. Thesecharacteristics make the sorbents most promising for use with pressureswing adsorption processes (PSA) which is described in the exampleswhich follow later (Yang, 1987).

It was demonstrated that anions have significant effects on theadsorption behavior of π-complexation sorbents. It was shown that theanion effects on the selective olefin adsorption followed the trenddescribed below:

AgI>AgBr>AgCl>AgF

This trend is opposite to the electronegativities of the anions. Thiswas because the d−π* backdonation, rather than the σ-donation, dominatedthe bonding between olefin and Ag³⁰.

One of the objectives was to determine the effect various substrateshave on selective olefin adsorption based on π-complexation. While theeffect of the physical characteristics of a substrate such as a surfacearea and pore size would have on adsorption is clear, the effect of thesurface chemistry properties (i.e., lyophobicity, hydrophobicity, etc.)is not well understood. The substrates selected were γ-Al₂O₃, SiO₂, andMCM-41. Once the data was normalized to take into account surface area,the following trend was observed:

SiO₂ >MCM-41 >γ-Al₂O₃

The silica surface (on both silica gel and MCM-41) provides a bettersubstrate due to the lack of surface oxide vacancies (unlike γ-Al₂O₃),and consequently there are more four-coordinated Ag³⁰ (which can bondolefin) and less 5- and 6-coordinated Ag⁺(which cannot bond olefin forsteric reasons).

From the results presented in examples 1 to 3, it is clear that anionsand substrate play an important role in selective olefin adsorption viaπ-complexation. It is possible to use these differences to manipulatethe adsorptive properties of sorbents to better suit a particularapplication, such as PSA described below.

EXAMPLE 4 PSA Cycle Using AgNO₃/SiO₂ and Comparative Adsorbents

The effectiveness of these silver salt compounds was further compared toother adsorbents. Three sorbents were used in the following examples;two were commercial sorbents, (4A zeolite and carbon molecular sieve)and one was a π-complexation sorbent of the invention described above(AgNO₃SiO₂). The comparison was based on modelling a PSA cycle,representative of a commercial use of such adsorbents. Equilibriumisotherms, heats of adsorption, and temperature-dependent diffusitiveswere measured for four gases on three sorbents.

The 4A-type zeolite used was in powder form. The samples were degassedin vacuo (10⁻⁶ torr) at 350° C. before each experiment. The carbonmolecular sieve (CMS) utilized in this work was manufactured byBergbau-Forschung GmbH in Germany. Unlike Type−4A zeolite, which has adiscrete pore size, Bergbau-Forschung CMS has a pore-size distributionbetween 3 and 5 Å. The sample utilized in this work was in pellet form.The pelletized form of CMS does not affect diffusion measurements, sincediffusion processes in Bergbau-Forschung CMS are controlled byintracrystalline diffusion. The CMS samples were degassed in vacuo at90° C. before each experiment.

The π-complexation sorbent used in this work was prepared using thermalmonolayer dispersion to disperse AgNO₃ over an SiO₂ substrate. Thesorbent was prepared by mixing 0.32 of AgNO₃ (Stem Chemicals) per gramof SiO₂ (Stem Chemicals). The SiO₂ had a surface area of 670 m²/g and apore volume of 0.46cm³/g. The particle size of the SiO₂ utilized rangedfrom 100 to 200 mesh. After thorough mixing, the sample was heated inair at 200° C. for 89 h to assure complete dispersion. The BET surfacearea of the sorbent was measured at 384 m²/g by nitrogen adsorption at77 K. Pore size was calculated to be 23 Å using the BJH method describedin detail by Barrett, et al. (1951). Other AgNO₃/SiO₂ ratios were alsoused; the ratio just given yielded the best results.

Equilibrium isotherms, uptake curves, and surface-area measurements weremade utilizing a Micromeritics ASAP 2010 adsorption instrument and aShimadzu TGA-50 thermogravimetric analyzer. The ASAP 2010 utilizes avolumetric system to obtain adsorption isotherms and uptake curves. Alluptake curves were measured at a stepped pressure increment from 0 atmto 0.1 atm. Also measurements were made at various temperatures toobtain isosteric heat of adsorption data and the temperature dependenceof diffusitives. Surface-area measurements were carried out by nitrogenadsorption at 77 K. The hydrocarbons used were: ethane (CP grade,Matheson minimum purity 99.0%), ethylene (CP grade, Matheson minimumpurity 99.5%), propane (CP grade, Matheson minimum purity 99.0%),propylene (CP grade, Matheson minimum purity 99.0%). The gases were usedwithout further purification.

Description of the PSA Cycle

A four-step PSA cycle similar to that used by Kikkinides et al. (1993)was used in all the cases in this example. The steps involved with eachcycle were as follows: (1) pressurization with the feed gas (mixture of50% olefin and 50% paraffin on molar basis); (2) high-pressureadsorption with feed gas, that is, feedstep; (3) high-pressure cocurrentpurge with part of the olefin-rich product obtained in step (4); (4)countercurrent blowdown to a low pressure. All steps were of equal timeduration.

FIG. 8 shows the PSA cycle used. As can be seen, a portion of thehigh-purity olefin from the countercurrent blowdown step was compressedto the feed pressure and used for rising the bed cocurrently in step 3.Purging with the strongly adsorbed component results in a significantincrease in the purity of that component in the product stream. Here,the product of the high-pressure rinse step is recycled and mixedvolumetrically, with the feed gas supplied to step 2.

The objective of this example was to compare the performance of theadsorbents employing equilibrium separations, kinetic separation, andseparation by exclusion of one of the components. The comparison neededto be carried out using nearly identical cycle conditions. In the caseof ethane/ethylene separation, the adsorbents were compared at the sameproduct throughput and the product purity was studied at various productrecoveries. In the case of propane/propylene separation, the adsorbentshad highly differing productivities, and hence the comparison was doneat constant product purity and the product throughput was studied atvarious values of product recovery. It should be noted that the term“product” mentioned throughout this work refers to the olefin-richproduct obtained in desorption step 4 unless otherwise specified. Thevarious process variables in this work were defined as follows:

Product recovery is as defined in equation 1.

Purge-to-feed ratio (P/F) is as defined in equation 2.

Another important parameter used to gauge the adsorbent's productivityis the product throughput (also referred to as productivity in thiswork):

Production throughput is as per equation 3.

PSA Simulation

The model used assumes the flow of a gaseous mixture of two componentsin an adiabatic fixed bed packed with spherical adsorbent particles ofidentical size and shape. Axial dispersion for mass and heat transfer isassumed, but dispersion in the radial direction is taken to benegligible. Axial pressure drop is neglected and ideal gas law isassumed to hold since pressures involved are low. External mass-transferlimitations are assumed to be negligible. Also the gas is assumed tohave constant viscosity and heat capacity.

The mass-balance equation for component k in the bed is given by theaxially dispersed plug flow equation (Sun et al., 1996): See equation 4.

The overall material balance obtained is as per equation 5.

For adiabatic bed with no heat transfer with the surroundings, theoverall heat balance may be written as per equation 6.

The axial dispersion coefficient (D_(ax)) and effective thermalconductivity (λ₁) were obtained from the mass and thermal Pecletnumbers, respectively, which were obtained using standard correlationsfor dispersion in fixed beds (Yang, 1987).

The rate of uptake by a sorbent particle was assumed to follow thelinear driving force (LDF) approximation, which holds true whenD_(e)t/R² _(p)>0.1 as per equation 7, where q^(*) _(k) is theequilibrium amount adsorbed at the surface of the pellet. The LDFapproximation was valid under the conditions used in this study.

Cross-term diffusivities were neglected. The effective diffusivityvalues (D_(e,k)) were assumed to be independent of the surface coverage,and they were assumed to have an exponential temperature dependence perequation 8, where D°_(e,k) was the effective diffusivity at a referencetemperature T_(ref).

The initial conditions of each step were the conditions at the end ofthe preceding step. For the first step, the bed was maintained at 0.1atm with a certain composition of the olefin/paraffin mixture. Thepressurization and the countercurrent blowdown steps were the onlypressure-changing steps and the variation of pressure with time wasassumed to be exponential as per equation 9, where t_(s) wasconveniently chosen time constant. The value of t₂ has to be chosensufficiently small so as to obtain the desired pressure change but alsosufficiently large so as to keep the (dP/dt) term in the model smallenough to avoid stiffness in the numerical method used. In general,t_(s) was 24-27% of the step time chosen.

The boundary conditions used were the Dankwerts' boundary conditions forthe closed/closed vessel case as per equation 10.

Here z=0 and z=L represent the entrance and exit points in the fixedbed, respectively. The subscript m refers to the number of the step inthe cycle.

For adsorption by π=complexation, the equation giving the mostsatisfactory fit to experimental data has been known to be theLangmuir-uniform-distribution (LUD) equation (Yang and Kikkinides, 1995;Chen and Yang, 1995). Both the physisorption and chemisorption termswere included in the isotherm. At present, however, no equation isavailable for its extension to multicomponent mixtures. Hence, theloading ratio correlation (LRC) extended to binary mixtures was used(Yang, 1987) as per equation 11, where q_(m), b and n were LRCparameters. The temperature dependence of q_(m) and b was given as perequation 12.

The coupled partial differential equations were solved using an implicitfinite difference scheme employing the Crank-Nicolson method (Carnahanet al., 1969). The fixed bed was discretized into 100 spatial points andtime into 200 time steps. The details of the numerical scheme used aregiven elsewhere (Sun et al., 1996). The PSA code was written in FORTRANand was executed using a SUN-SPARC workstation. The model and numericalmethod were found to be stable and convergent for all of the runs, andall mass balances were found to be valid within 4% relative error. Themachine time required for computation of one PSA cycle was about 15-20s, and the cyclic steady state was reached in 200-500 cycles, dependingupon the initial conditions used.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Isotherms and Diffusitives on 4A Zeolite

The pure-component equilibrium isotherms of C₂H₄ and C₂H₆ on 4A zeoliteat 25° C. and 70° C. are shown in FIG. 9. The equilibrium data werefitted well by the LRC model shown in Eq. 11. The fitting parameterswere shown in Table 1. From FIG. 9, the amounts adsorbed at 25° C. and 1atm for C₂H₄ and C₂H₆ were 2.8 and 2.4 mmol/g, respectively. Hence,equilibrium separation would not be feasible.

Uptake rates were measured using Micromeritics ASAP 2010 at 25° C. and70° C., and the results are shown in FIG. 10. The pressure incrementswere from 0 atm to 0.1 atm. At 25° C., after 15 s, C₂H₄, adsorption wasapproximately 75% complete, while C₂H₆. adsorption was only 15%complete. Diffusion time constants, D/R², were calculated by fittingexperimental data with the solution for the diffusion equation forspherical particles (Karger and Ruthven, 1992). The values of D/R²obtained for C₂H₄ and C₂H₆ at 25° C. were 5.12×10⁻³ and 1.64×10⁻⁴,L/s⁻¹, respectively. The ratio of these diffusitives was 31, which wassimilar to the ratio of pure-component diffusitives of O₂/N₂ in thecommercial separation of air using a carbon molecular sieve. However, itwas observed that the desorption rate of the C₂H₄ on zeolite 4A was lowcompared to that of adsorption rate, thus giving it an irreversiblenature. Unlike C₂H₄, C₂H₆ adsorption was completely reversible at thistemperature.

For purpose of simulation, however, the adsorption and desorption rateswere assumed to be equal. The results of the simulation would thusrepresent the best separation of C₂H₄ and C₂H₆ by zeolite 4A at 25° C.

Equilibrium isotherms and diffusion time constants of C₃H₆ and C₃H₈ on4A zeolite were also measured. The isotherms are shown in FIG. 11, andthe uptake rates of C₃H₆ are shown in FIG. 12. It is noteworthy thatC₃H₈ was essentially excluded from the 4A zeolite, whereas the C₃H₆molecule was free to diffuse. The effective aperture size of the 4Azeolite is 3.8 Å, which obviously is the demarcation between the kineticdiameters of C₃H₆ and C₃H₈. The diffusion time constants of C₃H₆ at 25°C. and 120° C. were 8.5×10⁻⁵ L/s⁻¹ and 4.3→10⁻⁴ L/s⁻¹, respectively. Thetemperature-dependent diffusivity values are included in Table 2. Theequilibrium LRC fitting parameters are given in Table 1.

It was observed that the adsorption of C₃H₆ in the 4A zeolite was notcompletely reversible at 25° C., with approximately 10% adsorbateremaining after desorption. However, the adsorption at 120° C. wasreadily reversible. Isotherms and Diffusitives on the Carbon MolecularSieve Unlike the 4A zeolite with a discrete aperture dimension, the CMShad a distribution of micropore sizes ranging from 3 Å to 5 Å.Measurements with C₃H₆ and C₃H₈ showed that these molecules were totallyexcluded. The equilibrium isotherms of C₂H₄ ₄ and C₂H₆ at varioustemperatures are shown in FIG. 13. C₂H₆ was nearly excluded, yetdetectable amounts were observed due to the larger pores in the CMS.

The diffusion time constants for C₂H₄ in CMS were 1.90×10⁻⁶ L/s⁻¹ at 25°C. and 1.77×10⁻⁵ L/s⁻¹ at 100° C. The isotherm parameters are given inTable 1, and the temperature-dependent D/R² values are included in Table2. Although the diffusivities were low, the equilibrium selectivity forC₂H₄/C₂H₆ was high. Hence, the C₂/CMS system was included in PSAsimulation.

Equilibrium Isotherms and Diffusivities on Monolayer AgNO₃/SiO₂

Both C₂H₄/C₂H₆ and C₃H₆/C₃H₈ separations are effective with theAgNO₃/SiO₂ π-complexation sorbent, as shown in prior examples 1 to 3.Here, only C₃H₆/C₃H₈ was included for comparison with the otheradsorbents. The Ag-resin was used for the C₂ separation for the purposeof evaluating separation by π-complexation. Data for C₂H₄ and C₂H₆isotherms and diffusivity values were taken from the work by Wu et al.(1997) and are presented in Tables 1 and 2, respectively.

The equilibrium isotherms of C₃H₆ and C₃H₈ and on AgNO₃/SiO₂ at 25° C.and 70° C. are shown in FIG. 14. The Langmuir-type isotherm (i.e, LRC)did not fit the data well due to the steepness of the equilibrium data.The best fit is shown in FIG. 14, and the fitting parameters areincluded in Table 1. Since the fitted isotherm undercalculated the Δq inthe PSA cycle, the PSA simulation result based on the fitted isothermwould underestimate the separation.

The uptake rates were rapid and not shown here for example, thediffusion time constants for C₃H₆ and C₃H₈ at 70° C. were 1.67×10⁻³L/s⁻¹ and 1.48×10⁻² L/s⁻¹, respectively. The temperature-dependentvalues are included in Table 2. The rapid diffusion was due to the largepore dimensions (32 Å) in the sorbent.

Ethane/Ethylene Separation Using Comparative Adsorbents

The adsorbents that were considered for ethane/ethylene separation werezeolite 4A, Bergbau-Forschung carbon molecular sieve (CMS), and Ag³⁰-exchanged Amberlyst-35 resin. As discussed earlier, zeolite 4A had agood capacity for ethylene separation by way of kinetic separation,whereas the Bergbau-Forschung CMS had the property of excluding. ethanecompletely. Recently, Ag³⁰ -exchanged Amberlyst-35 with 36.5% degree ofion exchange (DIE) was found to have promising prospects forolefin/paraffin separation applications by virtue of steep isotherms forethylene and comparatively flat isotherms for ethane (Wu et al., 1997).

The PSA cycle used is outlined in Table 3. In the case of zeolite 4A, afeed temperature of 25° C. was used with time for each step ranging from80 to 480 s. As was mentioned earlier, the desorption rate of C₂H₄ onzeolite 4A was low compared to that of absorption at 25° C. In thepresent work, however, this irreversibility is neglected and equal ratesof absorption and desorption are assumed, thus giving the bestseparation possible by this sorbent. The purge-to-feed ratio wasadjusted for each cycle time so as to provide an optimum product purityand recovery.

For Ag³⁰ -exchanged resin, a feed temperature of 25° C. was alsoemployed for comparison with 4A zeolite. A study of the uptake curvesfor C₂H₄ provided by Wu et al. (1997) shows a 90% uptake after 30 minduration. Hence step times ranging from 800 s to 1,800 s were used.

The performance of the sorbents needed to be compared by keeping one ofthe following three parameters constant product purity, productrecovery, and product throughput. As comparable product throughputs wereobtained in the case of zeolite 4A and the Ag³⁰ -Amberlyst-35,comparison was done by studying the product purity vs. product recoveryat an average product throughput of about 1.1×10⁻⁴ kg product/h/kgadsorbent. The PSA cycle conditions used in the simulation runs aregiven in Table 4 and the results of the simulations are shown in FIG.15. The dots in the figure represent actual results of the simulationruns, while the line indicates the trend followed. As can be seen fromthe figure, the C₂H₄ product purity fell rapidly at high C₂H₄ productrecovery for both the sorbents at constant productivity. High recoverywas possible at low product purities, but it fell drastically at veryhigh purity in the case of zeolite 4A. However, in the case of Ag³⁰-Amberlyst-35 resin sorbent, much higher C₂H₄ product recovery waspossible compared to zeolite 4A at corresponding product purity and atthe constant product throughput under consideration. Although, ingeneral, the runs for Ag³⁰ -resin show a slightly lower productthroughput than that for zeolite 4A, comparison between runs 1 and 2 forAg³⁰ -resin and runs 6 and 7 for zeolite 4A in Table 4 is valid, sinceproduct throughputs are about the same for both. Hence, it can beconcluded that equilibrium separation by π-complexation adsorbents suchas Ag³⁰ -Amberlyst-35 gives better performance than kinetic separationusing zeolite 4A. Moreover, both curves in FIG. 15 could be raised byfurther lowering the product throughput. Although product purities inexcess of 99.9% were possible for the Ag³⁰ -resin at recoveries lowerthan 10%, the product throughput dropped further. Hence these data couldnot be shown in this figure. The monolayer AgNO₃/SiO₂ sorbent of theinvention has selectivity for ethylene similar to that of Ag³⁰ -resinand in addition has much higher diffusivities compared to the lattersorbent. Hence the disadvantage of having low product throughputs forAg³⁰ -resin can be overcome by using the AgNO₃/SiO₂ sorbent withnegligible diffusion limitation.

Simulation studies were also carried out for Bergbau-Forschung CMS. Itcan be seen from the C₂H₄/C₂H₆ isotherms in FIG. 13 that C₂H₆ wasexcluded almost completely from the pores, whereas C₂H₄ is not. A studyof the C₂H₄ uptake curves for CMS showed that the uptake was very slow,requiring more than 1 h to reach 80-90% of uptake for C₂H₄, even at ahigh temperature of 100° C. Simulation runs were carried out at 100° C.with a step time ranging from 4,000 to 8,000 s. Since the cycle time washigh, the product throughput was very low compared to that of zeolite 4Aand Ag³⁰ -Amberlyst-35. Also, since the working capacity of the CMSadsorbent for C₂H₄ was quite small compared to that possessed by theother two adsorbents, there was a large restriction on the feedthroughput and on the allowable purge-to-feed ratio. The results of PSAsimulations showed that although product purities over 90% werepossible, the product recoveries would not exceed 5%. The lowdiffusivity of the olefin caused the feed to break though the bed evenat interstitial velocities as low as 0.05 m/s, thus causing considerableloss of olefin in the feed product. Even at lower product purities, therecoveries did not improve much. Further, the maximum product throughputthat could be achieved was of the order of 1.4×10⁻⁵ kg/h/kg sorbent,which is only 1% of that possible by zeolite 4A and Ag³⁰ -resin. It wasthus obvious that the performance of Bergbau-Forschung CMS as a sorbentfor C₂H₄/C₂H₆ was very poor compared to the other sorbents despitehaving the property of excluding C₂H₆.

Several observations are evident to this point based on ethane\ethyleneseparation of Examples 1 to 4. The monolayer (thermally dispersed)AgNO₃/SiO₂ sorbent of the invention performed better than the carbonmolecular sieve, the Ag⁺resin and the zeolite 4A. The prior examples 1-3showed that impregnated AgNO₃/SiO₂ (incipient wetness) performed evenbetter.

Propane/Propylene Separation

For the case of propane/propylene, the adsorbents that were consideredfor separation were zeolite 4A and monolayer AgNO₃/SiO₂. Zeolite 4Aalmost excludes propane from its pores, as can be seen from FIG. 11, andhence makes it an excellent prospect for C₃H₆/C₃H₈ separation. TheAgNO₃/SiO₂ adsorbent of the invention possesses a good selectivity,steep isotherm, and hence a large working capacity for C₃/H₆ compared tothat for C₃H₈. Thus this sorbent, which employs equilibrium separationdue to π-complexation, is also a good candidate for this separation. TheBergbau-Forschung CMS adsorbent was found to exclude both C₃H₆ and C₃H₈from its pores, and hence it was not considered for this olefin/paraffinsystem.

The PSA cycle used for C₃H₆/C₃H₆ separation was identical to that usedfor C₂H₄/C₂H₆ separation discussed earlier. In the case of zeolite 4A,separation was due to the difference in diffusion rate of the twospecies, and hence the cycle time had to be optimized. From a study ofthe uptake curves shown in FIG. 12, it was decided to use step timesranging from 100 s to 800 s. As opposed to this, the AgNO₃/SiO₂ sorbentwas found to have very fast uptake rates, and hence short step times of60 to 400 s were used. The feed temperatures in the case of zeolite 4Aand AgNO₃/SiO₂ were 100° C. and 70° C., respectively.

The results of the PSA simulations are shown in FIG. 16. Thecorresponding cycle conditions for the runs shown in the figure aresummarized in Table 5. Since the product throughputs obtained for thetwo sorbents were quite different, the product recovery and purity couldnot be compared at the same product throughput, as was done in case ofC₂H₄/C₂H₆ separation. Instead, the C₃H₆ product throughput of the twosorbents was compared at the same product purity of about 99%. As can beseen from FIG. 16, AgNO₃/SiO₂ sorbents gave almost five times theproduct throughput as was given by zeolite 4A. It should be noted thatthe main purpose of this example was to compare the performance of twotypes of sorbent under nearly identical cycle conditions rather thanprovide the optimal performance of each sorbent. The product recoverycan be increased by further decreasing the product throughput ordecreasing the product purity. For both sorbents, product recoveries inexcess of 70% were possible when product purity was lowered to 95% atproduct throughput of the order of 1×10⁻³ kg of product/h/kg ofadsorbent.

It was interesting to note the parabolic nature of product throughputvs. product recovery curve at constant product purity for AgNO₃/SiO₂.There appeared to be an optimal productivity at a particular recovery.For a PSA cycle, the aforementioned three performance variables areinterrelated in a complex manner. The data points for AgNO₃/SiO₂ in FIG.16 at lower recovery values were obtained at short step times, whereasthose at higher recovery values were those at long step times, as can beseen in Table 4. The capacity of the sorbent was utilized to a greaterextent when step time was increased. Moreover, less of the olefin waswasted as a product of the feed step, and hence recovery was seen toimprove with an increase in step time. Hence, as the step time wasincreased from a low value, there was initially a rise in productivityas well as product recovery. However, with further increase in steptime, the number of cycles performed per hour decreased, thus resultingin decrease in product throughput. In addition, as the time wasincreased, the less-adsorbed component, that is, C₃H₈, also diffused toa greater extent. This is more so for separation by AgNO₃/SiO₂ than byzeolite 4A because C₃H₈ has greater diffusivity with a highertemperature dependence than that of C₃H₆ for the former sorbent, as canbe seen from Table 2. Hence, as per definition (Eq. 3), the productthroughput decreased with higher step times, thus giving paraboliccurve.

Multiplicity of Cyclic Steady States for AgNO₃/SiO₂

The transient C₃H₆ product purity vs. the cycle number was studied atadsorption pressure of 1 atm, desorption pressure of 0.1 atm, feedtemperature of 70° C., step time of 210 s, time constant (t_(s)) of 50s, and purge velocity of 0.186 m/s. The bed was initially saturated at0.1 atm with a mixture of 5% C₃H₆ at 70° C. The variation of productpurity as the system approached cyclic steady state at different feedvelocities is shown in FIG. 17. A sudden jump of product purity from 80%to 98% was observed as purge velocity was increased from 0.80 m/s to0.81 m/s. The transient product purity curves at intermediate feedvelocity values showed a sigmoidal nature. It seemed as if the systemtended toward an intermediate steady state (seemingly an unstablestate), but then bifurcated to approach two different steady states. Theproduct purity obtained at different feed velocities at the same purgevelocity of 0.186 m/s is show in FIG. 18. All the other conditions werefixed at the values given earlier. For an initial temperature of 70° C.,the product purity remained at 79.9% as feed velocity was increased from0.72 m/s to 0.80 m/s (lower branch of FIG. 11). Thereafter, at feedvelocity of 0.80 m/s and beyond, the product purity suddenly increasedto 98.4%. At the same time, product recovery suddenly decreased from 41%to 28% as feed velocity was increased from 0.80 m/s to 0.81 m/s. Inanother set of simulations, keeping all the other parameters the same,the product purity was studied at different feed velocities with aninitial temperature of 120° C. In this case, the product purity andproduct recovery remained at 79.9% and 41%, respectively, until feedvelocity of 0.75 m/s. Beyond this value, the product purity jumped to98.8% and the product recovery decreased to 28% (upper branch of FIG.18). Thus, for the range of feed velocities from 0.75 m/s to 0.80 m/s,two different cyclic steady states were observed with respect to initialtemperature of the PSA bed. Kikkinides et al. (1995) had seen a similarbehavior of multiplicity for the system of H₂S/CO₂/CH₄ on 5A zeolite.

In their case, multiplicity of steady states was observed with respectto different initial concentrations of the sorbates. However, in thepresent work, simulations carried out with different initialconcentrations did not display multiplicity of periodic steady states.

A similar type of behavior was observed with change in purge velocity.As before, when the initial temperatures of the bed were altered from70° C. to 120° C., the system displayed multiple steady states for arange of purge velocities. FIG. 19 displays the transient product purityprofiles as the system approaches cycle steady state for adsorptionpressure of 1 atm, desorption pressure of 0.1 atm, feed temperature of70° C., step of 210 s, time constant (t_(s)) of 50 s, feed velocity of0.80 m/s, and purge velocity ranging from 0.18 m/s to 0.19 m/s. Theapproach to a middle unstable state and then its bifurcation to upperand lower stable steady states seen in FIG. 19 was similar to that inFIG. 17. The effect of the interstitial purge velocity on the C₃H₆product concentration starting from two different initial temperaturesis shown in FIG. 20. The lower branch in the figure represents theproduct purities obtained when the bed was started with an initialtemperature of 70° C. As the purge velocity was increased from 0.186 m/sto 0.187 m/s, the product purity suddenly increased to 98.4% from 80%.The upper branch was obtained by starting with an initial temperature of120° C., and a similar jump was seen at 0.184 m/s. Thus for the smallrange of purge velocities between 0.184 m/s and 0.186 m/s, multiplesteady states were observed with respect to the initial temperature ofthe bed. A further study of the effect of initial temperature on theproduct-purity dependence of feed and purge velocity in the region ofmultiplicity revealed that all simulations carried out at initialtemperatures below 106° C. followed the behavior observed for theinitial temperature of 70° C., whereas all initial temperatures above107° C. gave the behavior observed for the that of 120° C.,

The performance of three types of adsorbents, namely, those involvingkinetic separation, exclusion of one of the components, and equilibriumseparation, was compared for C₂H₄/C₂H₆ and C₃H₆/C₃H₈ systems using PSAsimulations of a four-step cycle involving cocurrent purge with thestrongly adsorbed species, that is, olefin. In case of theethane/ethylene system, the performance of AgNO₃/SiO₂ as per priorExamples 1-3 was very attractive. Equilibrium separation usingAg⁺-exchanged Amberlyst-35 sorbent was found to be superior compared tothe kinetic separation carried out by zeolite 4A by a study of theproduct purity vs. recovery curve at constant product throughput. Theperformance of carbon molecular sieve, which was found to exclude C₂/H₆from the pores, was found to be poor compared to both zeolite 4A andAg³⁰ -exchanged resin, mainly because of its slow uptake rates. Theperformance of AgNO₃/SiO₂ prepared by incipient wetness method was themost attractive for ethane/ethylene separation.

For the propane/propylene separation, equilibrium separation bymonolayer AgNO₃/SiO₂ sorbent was found to be superior to the kineticseparation by zeolite 4A. In this case comparison was performed bycomparing the product throughputs obtained using the two sorbents at afixed C₃H₆ product purity of 99.1%. For C₃H₆/C₃H₈ separation onAgNO₃/SiO₂ sorbent, multiplicity of cyclic steady states was observedwithin certain ranges of feed and purge velocities. Within these ranges,simulation of the PSA starting from two different initial conditionswhile keeping the same operating conditions yielded two different stablecyclic steady states.

Spreading of monolayer AgNO₃ on various substrates by the incipientwetness technique is thought to be the preferred method for preparingadsorbents. The preferred AgNO₃/SiO₂ prepared by incipient wetnessavoids decomposition of the metal compound which seems to occur withthermal dispersion heating.

TABLE A Fitting parameters for isotherms of C₂H₄ (eq. 2) and C₂H₆(eq. 1) at 70° C. on SiO₂ and AgNO₃/SiO₂ prepared by thermal monolayerdispersion and incipient wetness impregnation. q_(mp) q_(bp) q_(mc)b_(c) s C₂H₄ SiO₂ 1.12 0.47 — — — Monolayer AgNO₃/SiO₂ 0.18 1.78 1.610.20 7 Wet impregnated 0.30 3.76 4.16 0.02 7 AgNO₃/SiO₂ C₂H₆ SiO₂ 0.960.34 — — — Monolayer AgNO₃/SiO₂ 0.18 1.78 — — — Wet impregnated 0.27 6.6— — — AgNO₃/SiO₂

TABLE B BET surface areas (m²/g) for monolayer AgX/SiO₂ (X = F, Cl, Br,I) AgF/SiO₂ 546 AgCl/SiO₂ 486 AgBr/SiO₂ 479 Agl/SiO₂ 405

TABLE C Fitting parameters for equilibrium isotherms of C₃H₆ onmonolayer AgX/SiO₂ (where X = F, Cl, Br, I) at 70° C. using eq. (2).q_(mp) q_(bp) q_(mc) b_(c) (mmol/g) mmol/g mmol/g atm⁻¹ s AgF/SiO₂ 2.330.4 3.23 0.03 7 AgCl/SiO₂ 2 0.3 3.22 0.04 7 AgBr/SiO₂ 1.99 0.43 3.5 0.037 Agl/SiO₂ 3.1 0.19 3.8 0.03 7

TABLE D Fitting parameters for C₃H₆ adsorption at 70° C. on AgNO₃/Al₂O₃,SiO₂, MCM-41. q_(mp) q_(bp) q_(mc) b_(c) mmol/g mmol/g mmol/g atm⁻¹ sAgNO₃/Al₂O₃ 2.12 0.03 1.9 0.04 7 AgNO₃/SiO₂ 1.49 0.43 3.16 0.76 7AgNO₃/MCM-41 1.19 0.62 6.63 0.01 7

TABLE E Diffusion time constants (D/R²) for C₃H₆ on AgNO₃/Al₂O₃,AgNO₃/SiO₂ and AgNO₃/MCM-41 prepared by incipient wetness technique.D/R² BET Surface (s⁻¹) Area Pore Size 25° C. 70° C. m²/g Å AgNO₃/Al₂O₃4.9 × 10⁻³ 5.8 × 10⁻³ 228 18 AgNO₃/SiO₂ 2.3 × 10⁻³ 3.5 × 10⁻³ 398 8AgNO₃/MCM-41 8.5 × 10⁻³ 1.4 × 10⁻² 621 29

TABLE 1 Parameters in the Temperature-Dependent Loading RatioCorrelation Isotherms of C₂H₄, C₂H₆, C₃H₆ and C₃H₈ for Adsorbents C_(pg)k₁ k₂ k₃ k₄ (cal. Sorbent Sorbate (mmol/g) (K) (atm^(−n)) (K) n −ΔHmol/K) Zeolite 4A C₂H₄ 2.462 3.529 × 10⁻¹ 1.38 × 10⁻⁶ 5,927 1.41 11.911.84 Zeolite 4A C₂H₆ 5.956 × 10⁻¹ 4.232 × 10² 9.00 × 10⁻⁵ 3,599 1.247.15 14.36 Zeolite 4A C₃H₆ 7.232 × 10⁻¹ 3.449 × 10² 2.81 × 10⁻⁵ 4,7120.82 9.36 18.17 Zeolite 4A C₃H₈  2.71 —  4.6 × 10⁻³ — 0.46 — 21.30Ag⁺-resin C₂H₄  2.94 × 10⁻² 1.290 × 10³ 2.49 × 10⁻¹ 632 0.67 9.35 11.84Ag⁺-resin C₂H₆  4.53 × 10⁻⁴ 1.829 × 10³ 2.00 × 10⁻³ 0.0 2.17 4.6 14.36CMS C₂H₄ 0.393 3.911 × 10² 5.38 × 10⁻¹ 568 0.98 3.25 11.84 CMS C₂H₆  1.0× 10⁻⁶  3734   9 × 10⁻² 200 0.5 — 14.36 AgNO₃/SiO₂ C₃H₆  1.09 × 10⁻¹1.169 × 10³ 9.41 × 10⁻² 811 0.68 11.5 18.17 AgNO₃/SiO₂ C₃H₈  4.09 × 10⁻¹1.743 × 10³ 2.02 × 10⁻³ 270 0.69 3.35 21.30

TABLE 2 Parameters Used in Calculating Temperature-Dependent OverallDiffusion Time Constant (D_(e)/R²) for Diffusion of C₂H₄, C₂H₆, C₃H₆ andC₃H₈ in Adsorbents Used (Eq. 8)* D⁰ _(e)/R² E_(act)/R_(g) SorbentSorbent (s⁻¹) (K) Zeolite 4A C₂H₄ 5.12 × 10⁻³ 1,477 Zeolite 4A C₂H₆ 1.64× 10⁻⁴ 1,231 Zeolite 4A C₃H₆ 8.49 × 10⁻⁶ 2,051 Zeolite 4A C₃H₈ — —Ag⁺-resin C₂H₄ 1.03 × 10⁻⁴   766 Ag⁺-resin C₂H₆ 1.07 × 10⁻⁴   558 CMSC₂H₄ 1.89 × 10⁻⁶ 3,438 CMS C₂H₆ — — AgNO₃/SiO₂ C₃H₆ 1.43 × 10⁻³   352AgNO₃/SiO₂ C₃H₈  8.7 × 10⁻³ 1,206 *T_(ref) = 298 K.

TABLE 3 Adsorption Bed Characteristics and Operating Conditions Used inthe PSA Simulations Bed Length 3.0 m Diameter of adsorber bed 1.0 m Bedexternal porosity 0.40 m Bed density 720 kg/m³ Heat capacity of bed 0.28cal/g/k Wall temperature 298 K (ambient) Feed gas composition 50%olefin, 50% paraffin Adsorption pressure (P_(H)) 1.0 bar Desorptionpressure (P_(L)) 0.1 bar Initial total pressure 0.1 bar Axial dispersioncoefficient (D_(ax)) 3.8 × 10⁻² m²/s Effective thermal conductivity(λ_(L)) 2.2 × 10⁻³ W/m/K

TABLE 4 PSA Operating Parameters for Comparison of Performances ofZeolite 4A and Ag⁺ - Exchanged Amberlyst-35 Resin for the Separation ofC₂H₄ and C₂H₆* Desorp. Product Time Interstit. Interstit. Desorp.Desorp. (C₃H₆) Throughput Step Const. Feed Purge Product Product (kg ofTime t₃ Vel. U_(H) Vel. Up (C₃H₆) C₃H₆ Product/h/kg Run No. (s) (s)(m/s) (m/s) % Purity % Recovery of Adsorbent) × 10³ Ag⁺ - Resin (Feedtemperature = Initial temperature = 25° C. 1 1,800 450 0.40 0.01 99.738.81 0.135 2 800 200 0.15 0.02 91.92 22.46 0.062 3 1,200 300 0.10 0.0583.86 41.12 0.058 4 1,000 250 0.10 0.01 81.26 41.38 0.061 5 1,380 3450.08 0.01 85.09 48.73 0.054 Zeolite 4A Sorbent (Feed temperature =Initial temperature = 25° C.) 6 80 15 1.30 0.15 96.33 1.32 0.109 7 480120 0.10 0.03 79.83 7.18 0.032 8 80 15 0.30 0.10 73.91 26.71 0.292 9 12030 0.10 0.08 73.19 34.50 0.160 10 300 80 0.05 0.03 65.29 45.33 0.116*P_(H) 1.0 atm; P_(L) = 0.1 atm

TABLE 5 PSA Operating Parameters for Comparison of Performances ofZeolite 4A and Monolayer AgNO₃/SiO₂ for the Separation of C₃H₆ and C₃H₈*Desorp. Product (C₃H₆) Throughput Time Interstit. Interstit. Desorp.Desorp. (kg of Const. Feed Purge Product Product Product/h/kg Step Timet₃ Vel. UH Vel. Up C₃H₆ C₃H₆ of Adsorbent) Run No. (s) (s) (m/s) (m/s) %Recovery % Recovery 10³ AgNO₃/SiO₂ Sorbent (Feed temperature = Initialtemperature = 70° C.) 1 60 16 1.40 0.90 98.57 18.08 1.79 2 60 16 1.400.80 97.60 24.12 2.19 3 150 35 1.00 0.32 99.03 27.97 1.87 4 400 110 0.200.10 99.05 43.58 0.65 Zeolite 4A sorbent (Feed temperature = Initialtemperature = 100° C. 5 100 30 0.80 0.13 99.94 7.95 0.31 6 400 110 0.700.05 99.10 10.54 0.36 7 400 110 0.60 0.05 99.01 12.16 0.40 8 800 2400.80 0.045 99.97 23.59 0.10 9 600 150 0.10 0.065 99.98 27.29 0.15 *P_(H)= 1.0 atm; P_(L) = 0.1 atm

$\begin{matrix}{{{Product}\quad {recovery}} = \frac{\left( {C_{3}H_{6}\quad {from}\quad {step}\quad 4} \right) - \left( {C_{3}H_{6}\quad {used}\quad {for}\quad {purging}\quad {in}\quad {step}\quad 3} \right)}{\left( {C_{3}H_{6}\quad {fed}\quad {in}\quad {step}\quad 1\quad {and}\quad {step}\quad 2} \right)}} & (1) \\{{{Purge}\text{-}{to}\text{-}{feed}\quad {ratio}\quad \left( {P/F} \right)} = {\frac{\left( {C_{3}H_{6}\quad {used}\quad {to}\quad {purge}\quad {in}\quad {step}\quad 3} \right)}{\left( {C_{3}H_{6}\quad {fed}\quad {in}\quad {step}\quad 1\quad {and}\quad {step}\quad 2} \right)}.}} & (2) \\{{{Product}\quad {throughput}} = {\frac{{Amount}\quad ({kg})\quad {of}\quad C_{3}H_{6}\quad {produced}\quad {per}\quad {hour}}{{Amount}\quad ({kg})\quad {of}\quad {adsorbent}}.}} & (3) \\{{{\varepsilon_{t}\quad \frac{\partial y_{k}}{\partial t}} - {\varepsilon \quad D_{ax}\frac{\partial^{2}y_{k}}{\partial z^{2}}} + {\varepsilon \quad \frac{\partial\left( {u\quad y_{k}} \right)}{\partial z}} + {\frac{\rho_{b}{RT}}{P}\frac{\partial\overset{\_}{q_{k}}}{\partial t}} + {\frac{\varepsilon_{t}y_{k}}{P}\frac{P}{t}}} = 0.} & (4)\end{matrix}$

The overall material balance obtained is $\begin{matrix}{{\varepsilon \quad \frac{\partial u}{\partial z}} = {{{- \quad \frac{\rho_{b}{RT}}{P}}{\sum\limits_{k = 1}^{2}\frac{\partial\overset{\_}{q_{k}}}{\partial t}}} - {\frac{\varepsilon_{t}}{P}{\frac{P}{t}.}}}} & (5) \\{{{\left\lbrack {{\varepsilon \quad \rho_{g}c_{pg}} + {\rho_{b}\left( {c_{ps} + {\sum\limits_{k = 1}^{2}{\overset{\_}{q_{k}}c_{pg}}}} \right)}} \right\rbrack \frac{\partial T}{\partial t}} + {\varepsilon \quad \rho_{g}c_{pg}u\frac{\partial T}{\partial z}} - {\varepsilon \quad \lambda_{L}\frac{\partial^{2}T}{\partial z^{2}}}} = \left. {\rho_{b}\quad \sum\limits_{k = 1}^{2}} \middle| {\Delta \quad H_{j}} \middle| {\frac{\partial\overset{\_}{q_{k}}}{\partial t} + {\varepsilon {\frac{P}{t}.}}} \right.} & (6) \\{{\frac{\partial\overset{\_}{q_{k}}}{\partial t} = {\frac{15\quad D_{c,k}}{R_{p}^{2}}\left( {q_{k}^{*} - {\overset{\_}{q}}_{k}} \right)}},} & (7) \\{{D_{c,k} = {D_{c,k}^{0}\quad {\exp \left\lbrack {\frac{- E_{{act},k}}{R_{g}}\left( {\frac{1}{T} - \frac{1}{T_{ref}}} \right)} \right\rbrack}}},} & (8)\end{matrix}$

 P(t)=P_(fin)+(P_(ini)−P_(fin))exp(−t/t_(s)),  (9)

$\begin{matrix}{{\left. {D_{ax}\frac{\partial y_{k}}{\partial z}} \right|_{z = 0} = {\left. {{u_{m}\left( y_{k} \middle| {}_{z = 0}{- y_{H,k}} \right)} - {\lambda_{L}\quad \frac{\partial T}{\partial z}}} \right|_{z = 0} = {\rho_{g}c_{pg}{u_{m}\left( T \middle| {}_{z = 0}{- T_{H}} \right)}}}}{\left. \frac{\partial y_{k}}{\partial z} \right|_{z = L} = {\left. \frac{\partial T}{\partial z} \right|_{z = L} = 0.}}} & (10) \\{{q_{k}^{*} = \frac{q_{m,k}b_{k}P^{n_{k}}}{1 + {\sum\limits_{j = 1}^{2}{b_{j}P^{n_{j}}}}}},} & (11) \\{q = \frac{q_{mp}b_{p}P}{1 + {b_{p}P}}} & (A) \\{q = {\frac{q_{mp}b_{p}P}{1 + {b_{p}P}} + {\frac{q_{mc}}{2s}\ln \quad \frac{1 + {b_{c}P\quad ^{s}}}{1 + {b_{c}P\quad ^{- s}}}}}} & (B)\end{matrix}$

While this invention has been described in terms of certain embodimentsthereof, it is not intended that it be limited to the above description,but rather only to the extent set forth in the following claims.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property orprivileged is claimed, are defined in the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of separating gaseous alkene selectedfrom the group consisting of ethylene, propylene and mixtures thereof,from a gaseous mixture comprising said alkene, said method comprisingthe steps of: contacting said gaseous mixture with an adsorbent whichpreferentially adsorbs said alkene, at a selected temperature andpressure, thereby producing a non-adsorbed component and an alkene-richadsorbed component; said adsorbent comprising a carrier having a surfacearea, said carrier having been impregnated with a silver compound byincipient wetness, thereby resulting in a monolayer of the silvercompound dispersed on substantially the entire surface area, said silvercompound releasably retaining said alkene; and said carrier comprising aplurality of pores having a pore size greater than the effectivemolecular diameter of said alkene; and changing at least one of saidpressure and temperature to thereby release said alkene-rich componentfrom said adsorbent.
 2. The method as defined in claim 1 wherein saidsilver compound is a silver nitrate (AgNO₃) and said carrier is silicia(SiO₂).
 3. A method of separating gaseous alkene selected from the groupconsisting of ethylene, propylene and mixtures thereof, from a gaseousmixture comprising said alkene, said method comprising the steps of:contacting said gaseous mixture with an adsorbent which preferentiallyadsorbs said alkene, at a selected temperature and pressure, therebyproducing a non-adsorbed component and an alkene-rich adsorbedcomponent; said adsorbent comprising a carrier having a surface area,said carrier having been impregnated with a silver compound by incipientwetness, thereby resulting in a monolayer of the silver compounddispersed on substantially the entire surface area, said silver compoundreleasably retaining said alkene; and said carrier comprising aplurality of pores having a pore size greater than the effectivemolecular diameter of said alkene; and changing at least one of saidpressure and temperature to thereby release said alkene-rich componentfrom said adsorbent; wherein said silver compound is a silver salt,wherein the salt is selected from the group consisting of acetate,benzoate, bromate, chlorate, perchlorate, chlorite, citrate, fluoride,nitrate, nitrite, sulfate, and mixtures thereof.
 4. The method of claim1 wherein said carrier is a high surface area support selected from thegroup consisting of refractory inorganic oxide, molecular sieve,activated carbon, and mixtures thereof.
 5. The method of claim 1 whereinsaid silver compound is a silver (I) halide and said carrier is silica.6. A method of separating gaseous alkene selected from the groupconsisting of ethylene, propylene and mixtures thereof, from a gaseousmixture comprising said alkene, said method comprising the steps of:contacting said gaseous mixture with an adsorbent which preferentiallyadsorbs said alkene, at a selected temperature and pressure, therebyproducing a non-adsorbed component and an alkene-rich adsorbedcomponent; said adsorbent comprising a carrier having a surface area,said carrier having been impregnated with a silver compound by incipientwetness, thereby resulting in a monolayer of the silver compounddispersed on substantially the entire surface area, said silver compoundreleasably retaining said alkene; and said carrier comprising aplurality of pores having a pore size greater than the effectivemolecular diameter of said alkene; and changing at least one of saidpressure and temperature to thereby release said alkene-rich componentfrom said adsorbent; wherein said carrier has a BET surface area greaterthan about 50 square meters per gram and up to about 2,000 square metersper gram, and comprises a plurality of pores having a pore size greaterthan about 3 angstroms and up to about 10 microns.
 7. The method ofclaim 1 wherein the selected pressure of preferential adsorption is afirst pressure, and the pressure of release is a second pressure lessthan said first pressure.
 8. The method of claim 7 wherein said firstpressure is in a range of about 1 atmosphere to about 35 atmospheres. 9.The method of claim 7 wherein said first pressure is in a range of about1 atmosphere to about 10 atmospheres.
 10. The method of claim 7 whereinsaid first pressure is in a range of about 1 atmosphere to about 2atmospheres.
 11. The method of claim 7 wherein said second pressure isin a range of about 0.01 atm to about 5 atm.
 12. The method of claim 7wherein said second pressure is in a range of about 0.1 atm to about 0.5atm.
 13. The method of claim 1 wherein the selected temperature ofpreferential adsorption is a first temperature, and the temperature ofrelease is a second temperature greater than said first temperature. 14.The method of claim 13 wherein said first temperature is in a range ofabout 0° C. to about 50° C.
 15. The method of claim 13 wherein saidfirst temperature is in a range of about 25° C. to about 50° C.
 16. Themethod of claim 13 wherein said second temperature is in a range ofabout 70° C. to about 200° C.
 17. The method of claim 13 wherein saidsecond temperature is in a range of about 100° C. to about 120° C. 18.The method of claim 1 wherein said retaining of said alkene isaccomplished by formation of π-complexation bonds between said silverand said alkene.
 19. The method of claim 4 wherein said refractoryinorganic oxide is selected from the group consisting of pillared clay,alumina and silica.